Frequent Queen Replacement and Presence of Unrelated Queens in Colonies of a Functionally Monogynous Ant Species
ABSTRACT In eusocial insects, social parasitism—the exploitation of the host's brood care behavior for survival and reproduction—can occur either within or between species. Parasitic queens invade host nests and aggressively replace the resident queen. While the adoption of conspecific queens i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71133 |
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| author | Marion Cordonnier Lena Bachl Nicolas Thiercelin Andreas Trindl Jürgen Heinze Abel Bernadou |
| author_facet | Marion Cordonnier Lena Bachl Nicolas Thiercelin Andreas Trindl Jürgen Heinze Abel Bernadou |
| author_sort | Marion Cordonnier |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT In eusocial insects, social parasitism—the exploitation of the host's brood care behavior for survival and reproduction—can occur either within or between species. Parasitic queens invade host nests and aggressively replace the resident queen. While the adoption of conspecific queens is a common feature of species with multiqueen colonies (polygyny), the origin of parasitic founding is not fully understood. Functionally monogynous ants, in which nestmate queens establish social and reproductive hierarchies through biting and antennal boxing, may provide a link between peaceful adoption and social parasitism. In this study, we investigated whether alien queens can usurp colonies of the functionally monogynous ant Leptothorax gredleri. Ovary dissection of queens from 33 nests showed that multiple queens with developed ovaries can occasionally co‐occur in the same nest. Genetic analysis revealed frequent replacement of the dominant queens by relatives. Instead, alien queens rarely take over reproduction, suggesting a few occurrences of intraspecific social parasitism. However, the data suggest that alien queens without developed ovaries frequently invade nests without being eliminated. This suggests that alien queens are somehow prevented from reproducing and social parasitism is therefore limited in this species. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e8efde9ad3024f5bbcc42aa192dc6f51 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-e8efde9ad3024f5bbcc42aa192dc6f512025-08-20T03:25:20ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-05-01155n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71133Frequent Queen Replacement and Presence of Unrelated Queens in Colonies of a Functionally Monogynous Ant SpeciesMarion Cordonnier0Lena Bachl1Nicolas Thiercelin2Andreas Trindl3Jürgen Heinze4Abel Bernadou5Chair of Zoology and Evolutionary Biology University of Regensburg Regensburg GermanyChair of Zoology and Evolutionary Biology University of Regensburg Regensburg GermanyChair of Zoology and Evolutionary Biology University of Regensburg Regensburg GermanyChair of Zoology and Evolutionary Biology University of Regensburg Regensburg GermanyChair of Zoology and Evolutionary Biology University of Regensburg Regensburg GermanyCentre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS Toulouse FranceABSTRACT In eusocial insects, social parasitism—the exploitation of the host's brood care behavior for survival and reproduction—can occur either within or between species. Parasitic queens invade host nests and aggressively replace the resident queen. While the adoption of conspecific queens is a common feature of species with multiqueen colonies (polygyny), the origin of parasitic founding is not fully understood. Functionally monogynous ants, in which nestmate queens establish social and reproductive hierarchies through biting and antennal boxing, may provide a link between peaceful adoption and social parasitism. In this study, we investigated whether alien queens can usurp colonies of the functionally monogynous ant Leptothorax gredleri. Ovary dissection of queens from 33 nests showed that multiple queens with developed ovaries can occasionally co‐occur in the same nest. Genetic analysis revealed frequent replacement of the dominant queens by relatives. Instead, alien queens rarely take over reproduction, suggesting a few occurrences of intraspecific social parasitism. However, the data suggest that alien queens without developed ovaries frequently invade nests without being eliminated. This suggests that alien queens are somehow prevented from reproducing and social parasitism is therefore limited in this species.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71133dominance hierarchygenetic relatednesshaplotypesLeptothorax gredleriovary developmentsocial parasitism |
| spellingShingle | Marion Cordonnier Lena Bachl Nicolas Thiercelin Andreas Trindl Jürgen Heinze Abel Bernadou Frequent Queen Replacement and Presence of Unrelated Queens in Colonies of a Functionally Monogynous Ant Species Ecology and Evolution dominance hierarchy genetic relatedness haplotypes Leptothorax gredleri ovary development social parasitism |
| title | Frequent Queen Replacement and Presence of Unrelated Queens in Colonies of a Functionally Monogynous Ant Species |
| title_full | Frequent Queen Replacement and Presence of Unrelated Queens in Colonies of a Functionally Monogynous Ant Species |
| title_fullStr | Frequent Queen Replacement and Presence of Unrelated Queens in Colonies of a Functionally Monogynous Ant Species |
| title_full_unstemmed | Frequent Queen Replacement and Presence of Unrelated Queens in Colonies of a Functionally Monogynous Ant Species |
| title_short | Frequent Queen Replacement and Presence of Unrelated Queens in Colonies of a Functionally Monogynous Ant Species |
| title_sort | frequent queen replacement and presence of unrelated queens in colonies of a functionally monogynous ant species |
| topic | dominance hierarchy genetic relatedness haplotypes Leptothorax gredleri ovary development social parasitism |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71133 |
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